1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to security devices and, more specifically, to security devices for preventing access to a nut or bolt in order to prevent theft of an article through which the bolt passes.
2. Related Art
In many applications a nut and a bolt are used to secure one object to another. For example, nuts and bolts commonly used to mount outboard motors to the transoms of boats. Similarly, wheels and spare wheels are commonly mounted on automobiles through use of nuts and bolts.
In the case of an outboard motor, two bolts are typically used to secure mounting arms that depend from the motor to a boat transom. This mounting configuration leaves the head of the bolt exposed on one side, and the nut exposed on the other side. Thus, a thief with simple tools may remove the motor from the boat by merely unthreading the nut from the bolt.
Similarly, outdoor lawn equipment such as riding lawnmowers is often stored or displayed outdoors, where the equipment is vulnerable to theft overnight. One solution to this problem has been to run a cable through a suitable aperture on each piece of such equipment to make the removal of each item more difficult. A drawback to this approach is that gaining legitimate access to a given item so secured often requires unthreading the cable from a number of other, unneeded items, through which the cable must subsequently be rethreaded.
Thus a need exists for a device that prevents unauthorized removal of equipment secured to another object by bolts. Past efforts to provide systems to prevent unwanted removal of the nuts from the bolts have been evidenced by patents issued on such systems. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,726 to Rushing et al. describes such a device. A further need exists for a device that permits the rapid attachment and detachment of a cable to an object comprising a nut and bolt.